biology

List of hominoids

List of hominoids is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand List of hominoids rather than just read about it. In short: Hominoidea is a superfamily of primates. Members of this superfamily are called hominoids or apes, and include gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans, gibbons, bonobos, and humans.

Key takeaways

List of hominoids belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect List of hominoids to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of List of hominoids from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Hominoidea is a superfamily of primates. Members of this superfamily are called hominoids or apes, and include gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans, gibbons, bonobos, and humans. Hominoidea is one of the six major groups in the order Primates. The majority are found in forests in Southeastern Asia and Equatorial Africa, with the exception of humans, which have spread worldwide to every biome. They range in size from some gibbon species in the genus Nomascus, at 40 cm (16 in), to the eastern gorilla, at 196 cm (77 in), not including limbs. Hominoids primarily eat fruit, leaves, flowers, and insects, though humans are omnivorous. Most hominoids do not have population estimates, but the ones that do range from 10 mature individuals to 47,000, in addition to over 8 billion humans. Nearly every species is categorized as endangered or critically endangered; aside from humans, the only exception is the eastern hoolock gibbon, classified as vulnerable. The twenty-eight extant species of Hominoidea are divided into two families: Hominidae, containing five gorilla, chimpanzee, and human species divided into three genera in the subfamily Homininae, and three orangutan species in a single genus in the subfamily Ponginae; and Hylobatidae, containing twenty gibbon species divided into four genera. Dozens of extinct prehistoric hominoid species have been discovered, though due to ongoing research and discoveries the exact number and categorization is not fixed.

Conventions

The author citation for the species or genus is given after the scientific name; parentheses around the author citation indicate that this was not the original taxonomic placement. Conservation status codes listed follow the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Range maps are provided wherever possible; if a range map is not available, a description of the hominoid's range is provided. Ranges are based on the IUCN Red List for that species unless otherwise noted. All extinct genera, species, or subspecies listed alongside extant species went extinct after 1500 CE, and are indicated by a dagger symbol "†".

Classification

The superfamily Hominoidea consists of two extant families: Hominidae and Hylobatidae. Hominidae is divided into two subfamilies: Homininae, containing five species divided between three genera, and Ponginae, containing three species in a single genus. Hylobatidae contains twenty species in four genera. Family Hominidae

Subfamily Homininae Genus Gorilla (gorillas): two species Genus Homo (human): one species Genus Pan (chimpanzees): two species Subfamily Ponginae Genus Pongo (orangutans): three species Family Hylobatidae

Genus Hoolock (hoolock gibbons): three species Genus Hylobates (dwarf gibbons): nine species Genus Nomascus (crested gibbons): seven species Genus Symphalangus (siamang): one species

Hominoids The following classification is based on the taxonomy described by the reference work Mammal Species of the World (2005), with augmentation by generally accepted proposals made since using molecular phylogenetic analysis, as supported by both the IUCN and the American Society of Mammalogists.

Family Hominidae

Subfamily Homininae

Subfamily Ponginae

Family Hylobatidae

References

Sources

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with List of hominoids

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what List of hominoids claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to List of hominoids before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about List of hominoids ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of List of hominoids

In research: List of hominoids appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses List of hominoids in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: List of hominoids is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Apes, Lists of animal species, Lists of primates, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for List of hominoids outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study List of hominoids in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what List of hominoids means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain List of hominoids out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is List of hominoids in simple terms?

Hominoidea is a superfamily of primates. Members of this superfamily are called hominoids or apes, and include gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans, gibbons, bonobos, and humans.

Why does List of hominoids matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study List of hominoids?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on List of hominoids.